Prefabricated building panel



June 6, 1961 w. GREENE 2,986,348

PREFABRICATED BUILDING PANEL Filed June 8, 1959 INVENTOR W114 MM L. Gear/v:

ATTORNEYS Unite States Filed June 8, 1959, Ser. No. 818,671 Claims. (Cl. 50346) This invention relates to building construction and more particularly to improved prefabricated panels for use in such construction.

The present invention is broadly concerned with an improved construction of a known type of building panel comprising an exterior metal frame which confines within its margins an insulating layer of light-weight, lowstrength, cementitious material, such as perlite or the like, having on one or both sides thereof a layer of dense impervious, high-strength, cementitious material, such as concrete. In panels of this type, it has been customary heretofore to seal the joint between the frame and the dense layer on the exposed or weather side of the panel with a commercial sealing or caulking compound, and after the panels have been erected to a skeletal supporting structure, it has been customary to apply additional sealing compound at the joint between the frame of the panel and the adjacent supporting member. Thus in the use of prior panels, two or more caulking operations have been required and because sealing compound eventually dries and cracks, moisture seeps into the joints and particularly into the joint between the frame and the dense material where it causes the light-weight material to disintegrate.

A principal object of the present invention therefore is to provide an improved panel of the foregoing type so constructed and arranged that the use of caulking compound is entirely eliminated yet the joint between the metallic frame and the cementitious layers is effectively sealed for the life of the panels.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved panel wherein the means for sealing the joint between the cementitious layers and the metallic frame may also serve as an effective seal between the frame and an adjacent supporting member thereby entirely eliminating all necessity for the use of caulking compound.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a joint sealing means which is easily applied to the frame before the cementitious material is cast therein and which serves during the casting process as part of a mold or seal about the lower edge of the frame to retain the unsolidified material within the frame until the material sets, thus eliminating the necessity for additional molding apparatus.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a sealed, multilayer prefabricated panel of the foregoing character, wherein the seal, the layers of cementitious material and the frame member are interlocked in a novel fashion into a composite unitary structure.

Other objects and their attendant advantages will become apparent as the following detailed description is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a panel constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged broken cross sectional view taken substantially on the line 22 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a broken cross sectional view showing the panel assembled to a supporting structural member.

In FIG. 1 of the drawing there is illustrated an embodiment of a building construction panel constructed in accordance with the present invention. The panel comprises a surrounding metallic frame 10, which may be rectangular in plan, having a peripheral flat wall 12 which may be provided with flanges 14 extending outwardly of the panel from the upper or inner edge of the flat wall. Within the peripheral frame, preferably adjacent the upper edge thereof, there is provided a sheet of wire mesh 16, which is marginally connected to the wall in any convenient manner, a preferred means comprising a plurality of spaced holes through the walls through which the ends 17 of the mesh may project and be upset as by peening or the like. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the flat side walls 12 of the frame marginally confine a first layer 18 of dense, high strength, impervious cementitious material, such as concrete, and a second layer 20 of light-weight, low-strength, cementitious insulating material such as perlite or its equivalent. While the mesh 16 is shown embedded in the light-weight material, it is entirely within the purview of the invention for the mesh to be corrugated so as to be embedded partly in the light-weight material 20 and partly in the dense material 18.

In accordance with the invention, the improved means of sealing the joint between the frame 12 and the dense material 18 comprises a sealing member, designated generally by the numeral 22, about the entire lower edge of the panel. The member 22 is composed of a yieldable or elastic substance, desirably polyvinyl plastic known as P.V.C. (trademark) which is molded so as to provide a slotted upper or inner portion 24, which may he slid over the lower or outer edge of the side walls 12. The seal is provided throughout its length with a pair of transversely projecting lips or flanges 26 adapted to be embedded into the dense layer 18, which is cast into the frame in unsolidified condition so as to flow freely into and around the lips so that the seal is locked into position by the layer 18 after it sets. The lower part of the seal comprises an integral hollow tube 28 which projects outwardly and below the panel proper with the inner part of the tube affording a water tight seal at the marginal outer edge of the dense layer 18 thus preventing the ingress of moisture between the layer 18 and the side wall of the frame. In the vent the tube portion 28 should pull slightly away from the marginal edge of the layer 18, any moisture that enters behind the edge will not harm the layer 18 because it is impervious to water, and cannot in any event proceed as far as the light-weight inner layer of the material 20 because the lips 26 of the member 22 afford an effective baflie beyond which moisture cannot penetrate.

Referring now to 'FIG. 3, the panel of the invention is there shown connected to a supporting member 30, which may be in the form of an I-beam having a central web 32, an outer relatively wide flange 34, and a smaller inner flange 36. The upper side of the flange 36 may be provided with a central ridge 38, the arrangement being such that the ridge 38 forms with the flange 36 a recess to accommodate the outwardly extending flange 14 of the panel, which may be connected to the flange 36 in any convenient manner as by fasteners 40 or by welding. The outer flange 34 has a width such that when the panel flange 14 is installed in the recess provided by the flange 36 and ridge 38, the flange 34 abuts into the tubular portion 28 of the seal 22 and causes it to distort substantially as shown, thereby forming a water tight joint between the panel and the member 30.

In addition to providing a seal to prevent the ingress of moisture, the member 22, in accordance with the invention, performs an important function in the manufacture of the panel. Prior to casting the layers of cementitious material into the frame, the member 22 is slid over the outer edge of the side walls 12 as above explained, and the frame with the attached member 22 is then placed on a planar molding surface with the tubular portion engaging the planar surface to form a seal about the lower edge of the frame. In the event that the tubular portion is unduly depressed by the weight of the frame, suitable means may be used to partially support the frame above the planar surface but with the tubular portion nevertheless in close sealing engagement with the surface.

Thereafter, the dense cementitious material 18 is poured through the mesh 16 into the frame, which now functions as a mold, sealed at the bottom by the member 22, and immediately thereafter the light-weight material 20' is poured on top of the previously poured but unset dense material. The latter material is thereafter screeded so as to be flush with the upper edge of the frame and the materials in the frame are allowed to set until hard. By employing the member 22 as a seal for the lower edge of the frame during the casting operation, the necessity for additional sealing or molding means is entirely eliminated so that the only molding equipment required to form the panel of the invention is a planar surface.

After the cementitious material has entirely set, there is formed a composite panel whose parts are effectively interlocked. When the dense material 18 and light-weight material 20 are poured one after the other in unset condition, the layers coalesce at their interface and, when set, each layer bonds to the other. The light-weight layer 18 is locked in position by the mesh 16 which serves not only as a locking means but also as a tensile reinforcing member for the panel. With the layers 18, 20 locked in place, the sealing member 22 because of the lips 26 is likewise locked in place so that there is no tendency for any portion of the completed panel to separate from any other portion and the entire panel can be handled in the usual manner exactly as a solid monolithic piece of masonry would be handled.

The means for attaching the panel to a skeletal sup port structure is not limited to the outwardly extending flange 14 and the I-beam shown and described. The flange 14 could be entirely eliminated or could be arranged differently depending upon requirements. It is contemplated that the supporting structure will be flanged in a suitable manner so that the flange thereof may sealingly engage the tubular part 28 of the seal member 22 but the precise arrangement of the supporting structure may vary within wide limits and is not limited to the structure shown and described. The panel of the invention is susceptible of the mentioned modifications and changes and is also susceptible of a variety of other changes and modifications without, however, departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A building panel comprising a metallic frame having a side wall, a layer of light-weight cementitious material and a layer of dense cementitious material confined within the metallic frame, wire mesh embedded in at least one of said layers and marginally fastened to the side wall of said frame, a sealing member of flexible plastic material connected to and coextensive with one edge of said frame, said member having a part embedded in an adjacent layer of cementitious material and a second part integral with said first part and extending exteriorly of said frame and said adjacent layer to form a water tight seal between said layer and said side wall.

2. The building panel of claim 1 wherein the exteriorly extending part of said seal member is tubular in cross section and is adapted to be deformed by an adjacent abutting member so as to form a water tight seal between said member and said panel.

3. A prefabricated building construction panel comprising a surrounding metallic frame having a flat outer peripheral wall, a sheet of reinforcing mesh disposed within the frame with its peripheral edges connected to the metallic frame, a body of low-strength light-weight cementitious material partially filling said frame, a second body of high strength cementitious material integrally connected to said first body and with said first body filling said metallic frame, at least one of said bodies embedding said mesh, and sealing means between the body of said high strength material and said frame comprising a tubular flexible sealing gasket having a slotted part of one side thereof fitted over that edge of the frame adjacent the high strength material, said tubular gasket and the inner side of said slotted part separating said high strength material from said frame to seal the joint between said frame and the cementitious bodies.

4. The panel of claim 3 wherein said tubular member extends outwardly beyond the outer side of said frame so as to form a seal at the joint between said panel and an adjacent structural member normally engageable with the edge of said panel.

5. The panel of claim 3 wherein said tubular member is provided with a coextensive flange extending inwardly of said frame and embedded in said high strength material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,004,938 Thompon Oct. 3, 1911 2,156,681 Dewhurst et a1. May 2, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS 405,806 Italy Mar. 1948 741,457 Great Britain Dec. 5, 1955 

